


Amores Gris

by istilllikekhr



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: 20YL, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Canon-Typical Violence, Complicated Relationships, Eventual Happy Ending, M/M, Underage Drinking, Xanxus&Varia are cameo, but like taken seriously, past Squalo/Xanxus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:53:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27693044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/istilllikekhr/pseuds/istilllikekhr
Summary: Amores gris: the type of love that doesn’t make the people in a relationship happy.Squalo life goes a little out of the rails after a breakup, so Dino decides to help out an old friend by transforming him into a housemate.As he works through the changes in his life, both old and new feelings come to make it more complicated.
Relationships: Dino/Superbi Squalo
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	Amores Gris

“Are you sure?”

Squalo took another sip from his glass.

“You think I’m stupid?”

“No- I-I didn’t mean-”

“Just say what you want to, then.”

Dino bit his lower lip, choosing his words as carefully as possible. It would take a while before he would have a chance to speak with Squalo again and didn’t want his  _ stupid  _ clumsiness to get in the way.

“Uh, I- I just wanted to confirm, really. Haha…”

Maybe if this had happened 10 years later, he would have had the courage to argue with Squalo. Tell him pretty, inspirational words that managed to perfectly encapsulate the bad feeling Dino had about his colleague joining the Varia.

But that thought was naive on it’s own. Expecting Squalo to be swayed by a simple speech was almost laughable, and even his teenager self knew that.

He would probably get a better shot at a fighting match. 

“Yeah, sorry, that didn’t come out good… Just wanted to confirm! Congratulations, hope everything goes well. Haha.” Dino gave his best smile as he ran his own fingers through his hair.

Squalo finished his wine.

“Tell Reborn to get you acting lessons. That fucking sucked.”

Leaving the empty glass on the ground, Squalo slowly got up, heading to the glass door on the balcony, paying no attention to Dino’s desperate expression.

“Wait, Squalo!”

The swordsman didn’t bother turning to face Dino, but the other boy's firm grasp on his wrist was enough to stop him from leaving.

For once, he actually allowed such an invasion of his personal space to happen, too curious to see what would have made the meek Dino get so much bravado all of a sudden.

“If it’s something stupid, you are getting punched.”

“I won’t forget about you.”

Maybe if Squalo had turned back to see Dino’s eyes full of stars, he would have had the slightest bit of hesitation when following Xanxus. Maybe if he had noticed the tint of red in Cavallone’s cheeks, he would have given a second chance to his offer.

“Not a day. Okay?”

But he never did.

Dino didn’t have time to dodge the punch directed at him, and soon found himself on the ground, holding his abdomen in pain.

“A soft hearted idiot to the end.”

When Dino raised his head, Squalo was already gone.

__

  
  


They were returning from a meeting with Sawada. Squalo remembers very little of what the subject of discussion was, but he would remember the ride back for the rest of his life.

It was very late at night, and the heavy rain made it even harder to drive on the rather narrow road. With no other cars either following or in front of them, it became almost idiotic to expect to make it to the Varia mansion the same night. 

“I can’t see, let’s stop somewhere.”

The first red flag was Xanxus not immediately calling him weak trash for that.

Finding a motel was fast, and after that, the usual protocol would follow. Booking only one room, Squalo was ready to be thrown and/or bent over the first surface Xanxus deemed adequate and get fucked until his sky was satisfied.

But no. They entered, and the first thing Xanxus did was head straight to the bathroom, not bothering even turning on the lights.

_ Okay then.  _ It made Squalo raise an eyebrow, but he appreciated the time to prepare.

10 minutes later, Xanxus, still naked, threw himself on the bed.

“Your turn.”

“I’m not a dog.”

But Xanxus wasn’t interested in the banter, closing his eyes instead.

_ Not even going to throw a pillow?  _

Squalo decided on a quick shower, because he wasn’t sure he could handle thinking too much about the bizarre events that were unfolding right in front of him.

He walked out, and the world felt normal again as Xanxus gestured for him to come to bed. He was wondering how it would unfold this time around, if he was going to get grabbed by the hair or waist, and how long the bruises would take to fade away.

He almost protested when instead of the familiar roughhousing Xanxus pulled him down slowly, not exactly gently, less because he didn’t want to, and more that he didn’t know how to.

This continued throughout the night, until both had their share and were left panting, sweating, and avoiding the other’s eyes like the plague.

The sound of an incoming text never sounded so beautiful to Squalo’s ears as he left the bed, throwing the blankets nonchalantly to the side. 

He rolled his eyes lovingly seeing the silly picture of Bel and Lussuria trying on oddly-shaped sunglasses, and stopped half-way through replying due to the absolute bullshit Xanxus had just uttered.

“I’m leaving Varia.”

The first time he just stood like a statue. 

“Huh?”

“I’m leaving Varia. Permanently.”

The second time he became awfully aware of the raindrops against the window. It was pouring. The only light came from the neon sign outside and the half-closed door leading to the bathroom.

A haunting mix of orange and red.

“What a shitty joke to kick off your clown career.”

“Denial doesn’t suit you, shark.”

The fact had started to settle inside Squalo’s chest, and he was starting to see the kind of red that didn’t belong to the lights outside.

“What do you  _ fucking  _ mean?” He had to speak slowly, just to make sure his voice wouldn’t crack in the middle of a sentence.

Xanxus merely turned his gaze to Squalo, still laying down.

“What do you fucking mean, Xanxus?” his voice was louder, but there was the slightest attempt to hold back. Just in case Xanxus was really joking. World’s unfunniest joke, but still.

“I am no longer Varia’s leader.”

Squalo clenched his fists.

“You are.”

Squalo was breathing heavily. Squalo had to close his eyes and cover them with a hand. Squalo was digging his nails really hard on his palm.

Xanxus observed Squalo with caution.

Squalo threw his phone, with all his might, right at Xanxus face.

He took his long coat and stormed out of the room, ignoring how much rain water he had dragged into the car.

He drove all night, in complete silence, gripping the steering wheel, imagining it was Xanxus’s neck.

__

He was out when Xanxus came back to get his things from the mansion.

Even if he was there, he wouldn’t take a single glance at Varia’s previous leader. 

He did get a small tinge of satisfaction when Lussuria worried about the bandage over his nose.

_ Hope it was my phone, asshole.  _

He didn’t appear a second time.

Days, weeks, months went by, and little had changed.

Bel still was the same snickering bastard he always was.

Mammon still played along with him.

Lussuria still fulfilled his role as everyone's Big Homicidal Sister.

Surprisingly, even Levi was still there, on the grounds that “He had to watch over Xanxus' group.”

They still completed missions.

They were still as feared as ever.

And in that scenario, the new Squalo stood out like a sore thumb .

It was too easy to shift blame on the sudden increase of responsibility, but truth be told, it was nothing he couldn’t handle. Varia was surprisingly equalitarian when it came to work, and those days it was rare that they actually needed to be heavily deployed.

And yet, somehow, everyday he went to bed more and more drained. Documents that were dealt by the bulk before now stagnated on his desk for days, untouched. Missions that made him face the most formidable enemies felt dragged out, and to add insult to injury, even the art of swordsmanship had lost its shine.

A bottle of wine felt as necessary as air to pass through the days. He could at the very least wait until the night to get shitfaced, but on the bad days, it was not hard to find Squalo passed out in broad daylight right inside his office.

It was one of those days when Squalo, half-asleep on his sofa, felt a gentle tap on his shoulder, making him jump from being awakened so suddenly.

He had to blink a few times to fight off the drowsiness, the looming shadow above him slowly taking the shape of a colorful mohawk.

“Squ? Can we talk, right now?” 

Lussuria kept his smile as he observed his boss drag his body to the desk, in a sad and ineffective attempt at looking professional. 

“What?”

“I want some more details on my next mission. The report was a little shallow, and you know I don’t mind chasing information around, but it’s a little last minute for that, no?”

Squalo silently agreed, understating the underlying “ _ You did a shit job”  _ from Lussuria’s words. Opening his drawer, he fumbled around until he found the right file, and proceeded to go over details on location, base layout, information on enemies and any tidbit he remembered over the brain fog.

Lussuria nodded and smiled all the way, having to be fully concentrated to listen to the slurring voice of Squalo.

“Anything else you need?” Squalo was only half ashamed to almost complete the sentence with  _ I want to go back to my nap already. _

“I don’t really think so, no, thank you~”

But he didn’t get up, much to Squalo’s irritation.

“I think Levi could fill your shoes for a while.”

“Huh?”

“And you could come back regardless, if you wanted.”

The soft tone only added to the confusion, because Jesus Christ, he was  _ not  _ expecting gentleness from any of his subordinates at this hour, or after what they have observed the last few months.

A kick would have been more characteristic and deserved, in his opinion.

He could only stare with wide eyes as Lussuria gave a goodbye nod, and stopping at the door frame, turned to give one last message.

“Be well, Squ.”

__

Squalo quit. Or in prettier words, “took a vacation of undefined duration”. 

None of the remaining members were surprised, and if they weren’t so emotionally constipated, they would have given him a congratulatory pat on the back for his (hopefully) first step to recovery.

And really, on that front, that was it.

Levi kept his tough-guy persona as he was given the general idea of his boss duties, making sure to say that he would be a much better boss than Squalo ever was. 

Squalo did take notice that he didn’t mention Xanxus name.

Mammon and Bel just gave their goodbyes by saying he should drink something that doesn’t taste like shit, and Lussuria managed to give him a 0.5 hug before being shoved off.

All he had left to do was pack his things. Varia’s mansion  _ was  _ after all only for members, and his title seemed to be only honorary now.

He didn’t have much in physical belongings, but packing swords was hard work and before he even noticed it, the sky was already dark. It was triumphant to see the empty room full of boxes, and for the first time in months, a smile appeared on his face.

He was just about to go for a bath when he heard Lussuria coming down the corridor, giggling like a kid.

“Squalo, there is someone here to see you…”

He froze. The smile had disappeared, and as his heart rate increased, the only thought in his head was  _ Not him _ .

Immediately after thinking that, he wished he could punch his own face for acting like such a coward.

He was a grown, independent assassin that was feared by the vast majority of the underworld. Letting feelings get him so riled up like that was ridiculous.

With a deep breath, he recomposed himself. “Who?” He turned to Lussuria, as considering the other man’s expression remained happy, it seemed like it was enough.

“Why don’t you go and check out?”

“You really gonna be like that, huh?” 

“Yes~”

Squalo rolled his eyes, and left Lussuria still giggling behind as he power walked through the mansion.

It wasn’t a long journey, but it gave him enough time and privacy to truly steady his heart. Just in case.

He opened the fancy doors and was greeted by a starry sky and a blonde leaning on his own car, watching the night while mindlessly playing with his keys.

“Dino?”

Said blonde turned calmly, hearing the familiar voice. “Squalo. Hello!”

“...What are you doing here?”

“Just wanted to check in on an old friend! How are you doing?” 

Squalo raised an eyebrow. 

This couldn’t be all that was to it. They knew each other for almost their entire lives, yes, but it wasn’t really the type of friendship where one would simply show up at any time.

There  _ had  _ to be something more.

“Fine. Now answer properly.”

Dino tilted his head. “Nothing goes by you, right? Then I will be direct. I wanted to help you move!” Dino said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world and they had done it 1000 times.

Squalo was just about to ask how he knew he was moving, but he assumed yet another change in Varia’s leader position wasn’t the type of news one could keep secret for too long.

Before he could reply, Dino continued his reasoning. “Like, I know you have your car and everything, but I also do know you have a lot of swords aaaand you can’t contract normal movers for that. Not like you would trust them with your babies, anyway.”

On that, Cavallone was right. It might have taken fifty trips, but if it was to assure none of his dear deadly collectables got scratched, it was worth it. He could use the help.

“Fine then.”

Dino perked up. “And here I was, thinking that it would take hours of convincing! So, when and where?”

“I will be moving tomorrow...evening? Around 15:00 I’m planning to be out already. And I will be moving-”

Squalo paused, with the realization that he actually hadn't chosen a new place.

“Squalo? Where- oh,  _ no way.” _ Dino covered his mouth with a hand, stifling his laughter as best as he could. “You didn’t- no way, you DIDN’T get a new place already?”

“If you laugh, you are  _ fucking dead  _ you stupid pony.” Squalo hoped that his cheeks getting warmer didn’t also mean he was blushing.

But the threat didn’t work, and soon, Dino was breathless, holding himself, trying really hard to stop snorting because Squalo was actually punching him (not too strongly) in the ribs, but  _ Holy shit he didn’t even think about getting a house _ .

He eventually settled down, and cleaning his eyes from tears, he said to his still-slightly-exasperated friend.

“Come live with me?”

“What?”

“Ah, not forever, since you like your privacy and all, but just until you find somewhere nice. We have space, and would love to take you in for a while!”

Squalo pondered the offer.

The chance of him finding somewhere decent AND permanent was next to zero if he only had a few hours to search.

Dino’s mansion was guaranteed to have space, fighting rooms and if nothing else, at least a private area with no neighbors that could become  _ too  _ interested in the mysterious long-haired dude with swords.

If it was temporary…

“I won’t be staying for long.”

“It’s fine! It’s just a little helping hand, so go at your own pace.”

“Then, 15:00 here, tomorrow.” 

“Okay!” Dino got a little bit giddy, much to Squalo’s irritation. “Okay! I will be here!”

“You already said that. It’s that all?”

“For now, yes. See you tomorrow, Squalo!”

Squalo just nodded, and as he was just about to turn, he heard his name being called.

“What?”

“You look good in a ponytail.” 

Squalo didn’t really have time to react to the compliment, because Dino basically rushed out of there with his car.

As he was going back to his room, he tried to analyse what had just happened, but it has been a long day, and all he wanted was a bath.

He would have time to do it later.

__

Squalo’s parting gift from the Varia was breakfast cake.

They had dropped a bit of the façade of “super serious assassins”, instead choosing to have a peaceful meal, with only normal people bickering instead of bringing in weapons. 

15:00 came, and as promised, Dino was there.

With all the Varia there to say goodbye, Squalo’s boxes were loaded in the cars.

Everything was ready to go, when Lussuria pulled Dino aside, taking the opportunity of Bel getting some last-minute teasing on his former boss.

“Take care of our shark, okay?”

Dino just smiled genuinely. “Will do, Lussuria.”

15:10, Dino and Squalo drove away to the Cavallone mansion. 

**Author's Note:**

> Djavan - Nem Um Dia
> 
> Every 4 years or so I get obsessed with this music again, so this time, I will write about it.
> 
> DinoXSqualo is actually one of my favorites pairings on the series, I absolutely adore those two in canon and I am very happy to finally write about them!
> 
> This being very experimental and out of my comfort zone, I would love to hear any feedback so far. Also if you think that any extra tags are needed.
> 
> The bulk of the fanfic will be in the second chapter, so I won't promise it will come too soon, but at the very least I do know what I want.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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